Smith refuses to panic but Villa losing run leaves him vulnerable

Dean Smith is facing a pivotal match at Southampton tonight as he fights for his future as Aston Villa head coach. Smith is under pressure after four successive defeats and his position is understood to be vulnerable.

Though he said yesterday that he still felt the support from Villa’s board, a fifth defeat and a poor performance would plunge his future into doubt. Smith could still avoid the sack in the event of another loss ahead of the international break, concerns are growing, with crucial matches against Brighton and Crystal Palace coming later this month.

Villa have made their worst start to a season since Smith’s appointment in October 2018, and results this year have been inconsistent, with only 11 wins from 34 league matches. Despite the sale of captain Jack Grealish to Manchester City in August, club owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens took their transfer spending to over £300million this summer with the target of challenging for a top-eight finish.

The nature of the defeats by Wolves, Arsenal and West Ham has triggered deep concern, and Smith needs a positive result against Southampton to lift the pressure.

He said: “My way is to always be consistent and make sure there’s no panic and that we’re in control. We’re determined to put things right. In football you’re going to have wins and losses, that happens. It’s how you deal with them. We’re not far from turning it around and in a determined mood, that’s for sure.”

Smith is set to recall captain Tyrone Mings, after taking the extreme call of dropping the England international against West Ham. Ezri Konsa is suspended so Mings is expected to start, though forward Danny Ings will miss out against his former club because of a hamstring injury.